Sunstroke

It's that time of year when heat exhaustion and its serious calamity, sunstroke can happen. Well it happened to me and that was not pleasant. It was a shocker and even a day later I still feel the effects.

All I did was decide to mow the lawn, which had grown very high after all the rain, especially that nasty two-foot tall grass I hate that resembles Johnson grass. So after about an hour of slow going, lots of restarting the engine, I get tunnel vision. Silly me, trying to mow the grass in the middle of the Texas heat. So I left the mower and wandered like a drunk up the stairs to the porch, totally incapacitated, on the floor, shaking, hyperventilating, and nauseous.

According to the experts I was one step away from the hospital or even the grave.

After about 15 long minutes of down time I seemed fine, and being manly shook it off like "wow that was a trip, I'll never do that again!" But I was still dizzy, confused as heck, irritable, and couldn't eat dinner. My muscles were cramped and burning. The air conditioner which blows like ice cubes felt hot. I had been had.

Thanks to some locals and the Internet, I learned this is a very dangerous thing. It is not only dehydration, but rather lack of electrolytes and salt in your system that causes the real shock. So now I know that stuff like salt and Gatorade are what you need - and to not get so over-heated.

So all you neighbors, I'll be mowing the grass at eight o'clock in the morning or at night, and that's just my bad.

Editor - I fixed this up a little and wanted to mention that the best cure for heat exhaustion is to jump into the surf, and chill-out.

Eight Days of Rain

Wow, no tropical storms in the Gulf and we get 8 days of rain in July, truly strange. Rainfall totals of almost an inch per day - wish I had my rain gauge working but totals should be close to 6 inches. Cabin fever is starting to get bad, especially since my daughter came down from Austin and really wants to surf and fish. We see a break in the weather and run to the beach and KABOOM goes the thunder so we run back home. Then is drizzles. We wait on the drizzle to end like one dog waits on another.

Updated SPI Web Cams

Over the last five years the web cams on SPI have changed, so if you need a dose of "real-time" SPI there are some new ones. I've got a short list for starters, and let me know if you have more:

JW’s special event cam / Earth-Cam

This is brand new to the Island, covering the beach, Louie's and the Friday fireworks, and even Pirate's Landing - the Black Dragon pirate ship should be here today, hopefully. Java controls allow users to pan the camera itself, although at a Top Ten rated site by Earth-Cam, with thousands of viewers at once, it's hard to take it over. Sandy Feet says the beach cam controls are so good you can spot good cleavage on the beach!

http://www.southpadrecam.com/black_dragon.htm

Gene Gore’s spadre.com

This has been the "main cams" for many because it is well done and has an excellent surfing page as well - this one is for the sports minded for sure. Gene does a ton of advertising, so bear with the extra graphics. Also contains articles for local notables such as naturalist Scarlett Colley and boater safety tips from Captain Alan Stewart - two great folks to meet.

http://www.spadre.com/

Sandbox Inn Cam

This is Sandy Feet's latest morphing of the old "mobile web cam" which for a while had excellent beach views. It is now used as a security camera for the backyard and for folks to see her latest sand castle carvings. An island original. Sometimes loaded with butterflies.

http://www.spi-cam.com/

Turtle Cam

Gene Gore donated an old web cam to Sea Turtle Inc, which is now positioned over one of their holding tanks. It is pretty cool, and anything to do with Sea Turtle Rescue is way cool. Don't forget their fundraiser scheduled for September 6th.

http://www.seaturtleinc.com/turtlecam.html

SPI Beach Houses and Condos

Not sure what this one is about, other than a marketing tool, although it does seem to have high resolution pictures of the beach from a nice angle.

http://www.texasbeachhouse.com/

The status of many old-timer web-cams is not known. The Radisson used to have a "causeway cam" but I can't find it. Sandy Feet used to run the "Dad cam" during Spring Break - man that fellow could work a crowd of girls like nobody's business (English lit, right!). Of note is that several at Isla Blanca Park no longer seem to be functioning, especially after Gene Gore was asked to take his stuff elsewhere (long story).

Disappearing Ghost Crabs

I'd like to wish everyone a safe and happy 4th of July. It's a little rainy today with a good chance on Friday but then a drier weekend. So far on SPI there are no mobs of people, and it is nice and cool outside - an open door day!

Several times lately I watched the kids chasing ghost crabs at night, which is very fun with flashlights on the beach. The crabs are quite speedy and will disappear in a crab hole in a second. I saw plastic buckets with many of them, and had to wonder what the heck they were going to do to those poor crabs, but paid it no mind.

But then an observant friend noted how small they were compared to many years ago, when a respectable "sand crab" was at least two inches across the shell. They sure seem to be getting small these days, don't they?

Maybe that says something about our beach, and maybe all those kids as well (I have to admit, the new LED lights are cool). The little I know about ghost crabs is fascinating, such as they hide all day from the sun and predators but have to feed and drink at night; their burrows may be up to four feet long and are usually at a 45-degree angle such as into a dune. As part of the dune ecosystem, they reflect the overall health of the beach including its nutrient load, maintenance that can disturb their burrows, and predation from ... I think it's mostly the kids.

It is only befitting that "crabby the anti-litter mascot" could well be a ghost crab. Surely it is not a nasty land crab from the bayside!

Croc Thieves!

Beware of a recent rash of minor thievery on the beach - people stealing Croc sandals. We've lost a few pair, since we always leave them on the beach to go swimming.

To top it off, Lori walked the dog on the beach today, and some jerk stole the bling off her Crocs! Boy howdy she was hot about that, just steaming. "My mermaid," she forlornly cried.

So I now wear my oldest ones that I used to paint the house last year - they look and smell and heck, with a mysterious, black "x" factor growing inside the soles. I keep trying to tell Lori not to wear nice new ones to the beach, like the Camo ones she recently lost (way cool colors). Maybe a beach bag or back pack with a zipper is the may to go, to keep the kiddies half honest.

Otherwise, the beach report is really good, little weed, no jellyfish, very clean water today. Grandma waves, we call 'em.

Three Finger Salute

Bill Gates resigned from Microsoft Corporation today, in a weepy-eyed meeting with a bunch of his employees, leaving to concentrate his efforts on what is the largest charity in the world, the Gates Foundation. It makes me wonder is about a billion Microsoft personal computers will get "the blue screen of death" without his leadership, and we'll all have to do the three finger salute at once (CTRL+ALT+DEL).

Over two decades ago my friend Andy up in Austin said two words to me: "the Internet." Boy howdy was he right. To be honest, I started out on mainframes and the Apple - or was it a MacIntosh? That's almost a Biblical question by now, but you have to hand it to Bill Gates for exploiting computers and the Internet as a new frontier to be conquered.

You know, there really aren't any new frontiers to fill our imaginations anymore. Even nano-tubes are bio-tech are ho-hum. No more cheap labor in the world, although last I heard President Bush was looking for signs of life on Mars so maybe they could make sneakers, T-shirts, and underwear on the cheap for us American consumers.

It was equivalent to the Gold Rush of 1848 to 1855, something that captivated the spirit. I think that's what is wrong with the economy right now, that we don't have any new frontier of knowledge and experience that can be exploited. Maybe somebody will start a new rage going, but when Bill Gates leaves the company he started, you know that party is pretty much over.

I salute ya, bruddah.

Teaching a Bulldog How to Swim

Here is Malia telling me she wants to go to the beach. She just plain loves the beach, as I'm sure many Island dogs do. The only thing is, this brand of doggy can't swim for nothing. Heavy bones I guess, one time we put an orange doggy life preserver on her and she floated upside down like some weird buoy or something.

Why didn't the Lord give me a nice black female Labrador or something? But as fate would have it, I inherited a beautiful American Pit Bull named Malia. It's really my daughter's dog and she can have it back but we're so attached I guess Samantha gave us a break. Me, the Labrador dude, with a freaking pit bull. I'm having a Rodney Daingerfeld moment here.

But we're working on the surf part. We're definitely not ready for the "ride on the boogie board" trick yet - that was funny as heck. Two weeks ago we learned that if a big wave comes, you have to jump up or you go under ... she's a jumper now. Little steps.

People ask what kind of dog it is and I say "American terrier" without mentioning "pit bull" because I don't want to set any alarms off. I've seen what some of these dogs can do and am realistic. The most important thing is to not ever let them loose, since they tend to form hunting packs with three or more dogs of any kind. Results can be disastrous. Get real that is their nature when wild. That's why Malia's on a short lead and constantly watched.

But she's a lover, has to sleep between us at night, and only freaks out over the possum, which she hates with a real passion. We have a routine worse than the Army, with mandatory walks here and there, some play, sleep, belly rubs, and loads of kisses for no good reason. I swear she can tell time. Plus she's a real hit on the beach, and let's all the kids pat her. Dudes and babes nod approvingly like I'm macho or something (huh?). Getting better about passing other dogs walking on the beach too! This was a big one. I'm sure Malia just wanted a sniff, poor girl, but we can't jerk daddy's arm off trying to do so.

Teaching a bulldog how to swim is really something, an almost hopeless existential cause like Sisyphus trying to push a giant rock up a mountain. For now, we stay where we can stand, and we don't seem to mind the ridiculous flaming orange doggy life jacket. As long as we're not upside down.

We finally make it out ...

Had a great day thanks to Mr. Bill Fisher and had beautiful blue water the whole way out for a 12-hour trip. No big takers and lots of seaweed to clear from the lines but much fun was had. It's fairly exhausting exercise - but it sure beats work!

I did learn a bunch ... next time I want some serious camera work, crew!

Wanting to get "all out to sea"

Well we tried, but the captain said it was like 4-foot waves offshore so we ditched our offshore trip today. That's OK, but it was a beautiful morning and the Gulf is hard to predict. Our area of the Gulf is closer to the edge of the continental shelf and has more blue water than anywhere in Texas, but does tend to be rougher as a result.

I hope it works out because the usual style of fishing such as on a party boat if to fish the reefs straight down, most often for the "endangered" red snapper mixed in with a few oddities such as amberjack and king mackerel. This crew only fishes sport fish on top, mostly catch and release except if a dolphin (the fish) or wahoo has big eyes for the lures.

Marlin, both blue and white, and sailfish are the true sports fish for these folks, with the occasional tuna mixed in. The day is long and at least $600 in fuel is burned. And sometimes you don't get a fish up close for a trophy picture but there's always something interesting out there, and I'm always learning.

As the little graphic indicates, there's all kinds of outriggers and gear all over the place so that up to seven lines can be fished in a "spread" to resemble a school of fish being chased. So I'm used to running maybe two or three that had no names other than "my pole" and "your pole." I can see the captain barking orders like "clear the outer left on the cross-bar daisy chain fly-jacks, ya blarmey" and have no idea what he's talking about. Point and make a reeling motion I might be able to catch on.

Hope we can get out soon!

Stiffed Again on Dredging

I don't think Gene Gore would mind me using his Surf-Cam picture for a noncommercial purpose such as that huge dredge out there in the channel - the big black ship with the red & white superstructure inside the jetties. We were wonder why the surf was chocolate & cream colored today when body surfing. Now we know - this machine can vacuum up thousands of tons of sand and dump it out the bottom several miles off the jetties in one load. The ship's name is most likely the WHEELER, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers vessel.

Once again, we missed an opportunity to get sand on our beaches, especially in the northern area by the Tiki and La Quinta resorts. On has to question why they are dredging now during turtle season and our high tourist season, but I guess the Port of Brownsville rates much higher than we or the turtles do. The bummer of it all is that dredging probably won't be done this fall because the channel is being dredged today, and won't need it then.

This is the third time. After a string of good luck and largely because of Mayor Pinkerton, we used to get sand on the beach every two years. In 2005 Hurricane Katrina and Rita stripped away a good part of our beaches and it's been going downhill ever since. No beach renourishment has been done since the winter of 2004/2005, aside from some very ineffectual trucking.

I am outraged, and question the so-called consultant who actually "found" sand up by Mansfield Pass. Let me ask - what is in the dredge right there? And isn't that OUR tax dollars at work and they're dumping perfectly good beach sand offshore? This poor sandbar; sometimes I have to wonder.

Home Rule

So what do you all think? The Town of South Padre Island could become a home-rule city is they wanted, but there is a curious resistance to that. I like the idea of Home Rule because it means we're "taking the bull by the horns" and are not so subject to the whims of the honorable Texas Legislature. Do you like the idea or not? Yay or nay?

I really don't think one would see much difference, and your property values would change with the economy and not anything the Town did by simply going Home Rule. It does afford the citizen a little more power however, a nice touch as a free-thinker like me. If you don't like somebody in power because they're abusing it, it sure would be nice to have a recall. And referendum, sweet, we can get our own agendas on the Board of Aldermen Agenda instead of just silly "public comments."

Oh so now you know why some politicians are scared. How the budget gets done can change as well, since we're no longer a General Law municipality. Stories about "losing" a million in beach funds because of going Home Rule are patently false. I have heard several other white lies as well. But basically, politicians are used to being bullet-proof once elected and Home Rules takes the carpet away from under all that.

I care not a bit about the politics of the situation. The facts are we have over 5,000 "inhabitants" and it is something to consider. Do ye or would ye want it or not?

Summer is here

Summer might not officially begin until June 22nd but it's here now, with Memorial Day and our little events out of the way. Many locals get real busy; some leave to go on the road for the summer art circuit; some head up north to more civilized temperatures.

The wind seems to blow hard still, as if May hadn't ended yet. It's OK although the fishermen don't like it - that wind can make you feel 15 degrees cooler than if you don't have a breath of air. One thing we missed was a bunch of rain, since usually it will not rain much except for an occasional dark cloud overhead until the September monsoon season. The ground looks parched and very dry already.

Lori and I were just talking how just when she gets out of the school system - 6 more "wake ups" she says - everyone will be too busy or traveling. Well not exactly true, there's the Camp Craft Girls for her and I have some stinky old fishing buddies for me. It's just totally different. It's summer now.

It's Lori's Birthday! An Anniversary!

Calling all SOB's ... calling all SOB's. Saturday we're celebrating Lori's 50th birthday!

It is also our 25th anniversary ... did I mention I had a birthday as well?

We'll be at the Wanna-Wanna for the Bongo Bogs for sure about 8:00. That's the main event, although we might rent some umbrellas and hang out on the beach earlier ... later, who knows? No presents needed other than your smiling faces. She's into the low-carb Atkin's diet if you're thinking something like a desert. This is a big one, folks, so let's show Lori a good time.

OK Here's the Deal: we'll be on the Oleander Street access (Bougainvillea) on Sunday starting a little after 10:00 a.m. and lasting until ... who knows?

UPDATE #1: We're trying to do a big shebang on Sunday on the beach, with sand castles, swimming, and more. Location is being decided as we speak.

UPDATE #2: Lori was accepted to the doctoral program at UTB! Only ten out of 200 made it. We're already on a roll!

The Boogies

Our dog is really nice and affectionate but one thing she does not like is "the boogies." Those would be the SPI opossum. Our dog can sniff one at 50 yards. She even knows it when I talk about "the damn tequatche," the Mexican word. It drives her nuts!

This island has a serious case of the boogies.

I don't know how the possum know, but one of them always has to check our porch for cat and dog food every night, as if they were New York cops on rotation. I've cornered them many times. Of course, poor Malia our dog looks like she's going through two layers of hurricane-proof glass. She doesn't like the boogie to say the least. We have to close the bedroom doors so she doesn't freak us out in the middle of the night.

I've been through the Town thing where you use a humane trap and try to catch the varmints. It didn't work that good here because I caught all my house cats, who are pigs. Old Jeff across the street caught three possum and two wild cats in one trap, probably an island record, but I didn't have any and I have great bait.

Can't we do better? I hate to think we should mow and pave over the entire island because we can't take care of a very simple animal control problem, them and the feral cats.

Global Warming Burgers

That contraption there is a solar concentrator built for about $450. The design was suggested for use in Africa to help provide power and cooking heat. About 25 flat mirrors can "dial in" the sun to focus on the nerddle there, which can reach extreme temperatures of maybe 1,200 degrees. Pretty cool huh, like space age?

The scientists did agree that the only side effect was sometimes it caught on fire. I sure hope they're working on the safety aspects if they export it or sell it commercially, but from a Dave Barry perspective that even makes it a better project.

So my business model would be called "Global Warming Burgers" and we would have organic veggie burgers to bison. I think you might need a space suit to operate it, which I'm sure the kids would find fascinating. Poof, your burger is done! It's all in the angle of the mirror dangle I believe. Of course, business hours would have to be in broad daylight, but who really wants a burger on a gray day anyway?

Speaking of burgers and space age stuff, the New York Times reports that the crapper on the International Space Station just went kaflooie, and yes company is coming over next weekend. Maybe they need one of these little honeys, think? That's called taking care of business!

Let's Talk Boats

I think I'm in love! Here is a Carolina Skiff from a company that sells traditional hull designs called Spira International. They just don't make boats like these anymore, unless you build one yourself or find one somebody else built. In fact if you Goggle "Carolina skiff" you'll get about a dozen models of fiberglass bay boats that don't even look remotely like the above picture.

Sure, you'll need to build a hull and buy a motor - I like the old Evenrude two-stroke 25 HP engines - but it certainly is cheaper than buying a new fiberglass wonder that costs as much as a brand new pickup truck. Besides, see those high sides and pointy bow: they're more seaworthy. I'm looking at $75 for plans and about a grand in cheap lumber, fasteners, fiberglass and paint. I haven't priced an old motor and trailer, though.

Lori wants a nice Bimini Top for shade in the middle, which is fine with me as long as I can cast and troll off the stern. Shade is good down here on SPI.

The one pictured is a 19-foot Carolina with a Vee bottom to handle chop and spray better. It is harder to build than the flat bottom version so I'll have to think about that. We'll see, but all sounds like fun to me - and the gas savings sounds like a real winner!

Memorial Day Memories

I write the day before Memorial Day, when the island celebrates the beginning of summer. Indeed it was a packed island the last two evenings, with fireworks and all. But somehow, this Memorial Day event was depressing to me.

I shall always love our country, our flag, and honor those that served to defend our liberties and freedoms. But my growing suspicion is that the United States is not longer a leader of the world, the strongest country, or the most just. We seemed to have pissed away our former glory, accepted a President as a lunatic puppet king, and engaged our armed services in a ridiculous holy war that our Founding Fathers would find rather shocking. Even the mighty dollar, once the currency of global trade, is now frowned upon as worthless Yuppie coupons that must be redeemed for something of real value.

Back in the early 1800s many European observers predicted that the United States would only last a few generations before falling into a nasty dictatorship with a broken economy and eventually, anarchy. These predictions never came true, as today we are still a proud, industrious people. But there is a growing sense of frustration, with less than a third of Americans thinking that our country is going the right way - and confidence in the US Congress has fallen even lower, to 10 percent. What would Washington, Adams, and Jefferson say about that?

The notion that we caused all this ourselves - even by electing a President that should be found guilty of High Treason - is especially galling on this Memorial Day.

Scallops

It is true, scallops are native to this area in far South Texas. You can find a few old shells on the beach and according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, there are even some wild ones in the Laguna Madre, since they do net surveys every year.

It is also really good eating, although most scallops come from the colder northern climates. I guess the prospect of eating scallops lead me to write this article. It's expensive but you can get them cheaper at a real seafood store, frozen.

I didn't know this but in Europe they eat the whole animal, not just the center muscle known as the "eye." Us whacky Americans, I guess it's too gross although we'll eat oysters for some mysterious reason. Part of the problem is that the scallop boats that go out to sea are out there for many days, and scallops will die, lose moisture, and rot if not cleaned and refrigerated or frozen right away.

The "real thing" is catching them right out of the bay. I did that up in New England for a summer or two just a few times. We used old laundry baskets to get them. I wish we were positively infested with them down here ... I would give up all meat except for my favorite seafood!

This Is an Emergency Broadcast

For all the disaster planning and recent events around the world - from hurricanes in Burma to earthquakes in China - the US is no better prepared than ever in its history. According to numbers reported in the Washington Post, 93% of us don't have a clue about what to do in a natural disaster. As hurricane season approaches, perhaps it's a timely subject.

I will say that Texas has made some strides, although mainly in the field of top-down command control and how to work the evacuation highways. Incredulously, the Department of Homeland Security insists upon customs inspections not only at the check stations such as Sarita and Falfurrias, but the evacuation centers, buses, and collection areas as well. What a bunch of proverbial turds.

There is some good advice out there, although most of the effort is on policing. The typical response (and no offense intended to Clifford) is to motivate people to leave ... or make them put on a toe tags "so we can ID your crab infested body." I think we can do better than that.

In general we're talking about two types of tropical cyclones and hurricanes. The first is the type that is tracked for days if not weeks before a storm gets within 500 miles. This gives you lots of time to make arrangements, pack those special things that could be lost, and beat the traffic. A single mention of a hurricane in the Gulf can empty about SPI tourists in a heartbeat, with some locals to follow. Hurricane Dean is a classic example.

The second type are very fast, compact hurricanes that can blow up within a space of 24 hours. Humberto was such an example of a storm that was never predicted (well, I did but who cares). For this the strategy is what's called a "ditch bag" just like a survival kits when you go out to sea on a boat. You grab the ditch bag that has all your important papers, medications, and some useful stuff like Granola bars and Charmin, throw it in the car, and boogie.

Now I've been around the Island long enough to know that even in small storms like Emily (2005, just after moving down here permanently), Islanders will wait until the wind actually starts blowing hard before putting up shutters and plywood ... and maybe hitting the liquor store, get some groceries, and the going to the bank as an afterthought. If the storm looks like Category 2-3 or less, or a likely miss, this Island is known for some outrageous hurricane parties. Jimmy Buffet music blares and the margarita machine is fired up. Some bars have been known to have a "keg emptying party" for the locals to celebrate the event. I have to say that mooning the Weather Channel TV crew was a high point of my life (take THIS, Jim Cantore!).

I know, that sends the wrong message but I think the Islanders know the drill fairly well and just need to be reminded about that "ditch bag" and some simple precautions. I hope some public friendly gatherings can help drive the point home ... one idea was to have a party and hand out or sell waterproof bags with a waterproof zipper with maybe an advertisement on one side and a checklist of things to do on the other. Make it some cool events and opposed to the usual smack talk by burly cops and frightening weather weenies.

And folks, if we get a one of the rare storms that form only 100 miles offshore, just forget the computer stuff and Aunt May's tea set. Grab the bag and go!

Aransas Pass and WiFi

There's a big brouhaha going on about a kind of wireless computer connectivity known as WiFi, since many people want it here on SPI. I originally supported the concept when Fred Mallet brought it up several years ago. Since then, not much has progressed about WiFi here and Fred moved to Aransas Pass.

Aransas Pass does not have municipal WiFi.

Now this is interesting because I have a serious case of "Aransas Pass Envy." Their park system is incredible and they put on a sand castle festival that is five times better than ours. Their marinas are really something, with lots of beach, bay, and offshore access. The beach might not be as nice as SPI but on just about every other account, for the same-sized town they have us beat, hands down.

So why did they not get municipal WiFi?

I don't have the luxury of having any exact reasons, town council discussions, or whatever but their Chamber of Commerce and other town links heavily promotes private WiFi as a tourist benefit and as a key strategy. Condos, rentals, restaurants, and bars heavily promote WiFi access. Once again, I'm getting a serious case of Aransas Pass Envy.

At least this isn't a boondoggle like the second causeway to SPI that would cost in numbers of hundreds of millions. But our Banana Republic political mentality sometimes leads to some very strange outcomes, such as rejecting ferry service (Aransas Pass, check), or municipal WiFi (not).

My point all along is that I support municipal WiFi but I wanted the budget numbers. None are available, and I'm starting to wonder if this is something that should be better done by private enterprise and not our Town. I'd rather invest in infrastructure, such as ... well we do have one public restroom to serve 5 miles of beach, I guess. Sometimes I worry about this place.

Second Causeway, A Boondoggle?

Recently there has been a big push for a second causeway on the north side of the Island. The traffic volumes don't support it right now and the Town's "position paper" is riddled with faulty conclusions and misleading assumptions. To be clear, I'd like to see a second causeway but the way we're doing it is all wrong, wrong, wrong.

The people who want a second causeway more than any other group are the developers of expensive condo property on the north side. They don't give a damn about hurricane evacuations, health, and all those silly justifications ... and to the buyers, paying five to ten bucks for the tollway to avoid the gruesome Padre Boulevard while speeding in luxury cars is appealing. Last I checked only one large condo tower was going up - if it doesn't fall down because it's leaning, or at least the garage already is. Simply stated, nobody lives up there now except a few coyotes and birds.

I'm certainly not paying big bucks like that and our friendly Winter Texans and Valley residents aren't either. Like the last Texas Legislature dictated, we're tired of all these tollways and want them stopped. Yet down here in La-La Land we think that's exactly the way to go, with a regional authority that has no representation from SPI. Folks, this is way out of control and signing some petition you don't understand is sheer stupidity. Of course we support a second causeway! It is all in how it gets done in the details.

It's a great reason to elect a new Governor because with Perry in place, such madness will continue amongst the Republican profiteers. And if you think a bridge twice as long as the Queen Isabella Causeway will only cost a hundred million, dream on teenage queen. Williams, Zachary, and others will gladly double or triple the price for you by the time the project is actually let out for bid in maybe five years.

I'm not that gullible and I'm fighting against the SOB right now, as is proposed.

Aftermath

It was a big Saturday on the sand spit. On Sunday morning the island is very quiet, some possibly nursing varying degrees of a hangover … or just being Sunday morning quiet. It is completely becalmed and you can hear birds for miles, or a loud motorcycle going over the causeway.

The election was a big deal, with Bob Pinkerton, JoAnn Evans, and Rick Ridolfi winning by large margins. Jake threw a big election party with free booze and a band. Congratulations to all the contenders and the winners. I wonder if other towns have so much fun just for voting?

From Jake’s we motored up Gulf Boulevard to the Wanna, which was being rocked by the Bongo Dogs. They were in fine form and yes, I was their star Frog Player once again. Everything was going very well until a lady in a red dress did an incredible back-flip into the musicians. It looked painful but she recovered after revealing that she obviously wasn’t wearing any panties, which didn’t seem to bother anyone. She could have been electrocuted. All seemed OK.

Except for Cathy’s trombone.

I didn’t know until the close of the last song that the lady in red had bent Cathy’s trombone, right in that part that slides back and forth. I was wondering why Cathy started looking cross-eyed in those last few songs. David her husband told me “well yeah she’s pissed, she broke her ax!” I hope it can be rescued.

Otherwise it was a wonderful evening although we had to navigate carefully on the way home because of all the midnight traffic. I don’t recall it being so busy in the weeks just before Memorial Day.

Lucky with the camera today

Aye, see the umbrellas, inviting surf, and really cool sand castle done by grand master Sandy Feet? We bombed in on one of those political things today at Wanna Wanna and had a wonderful time. It was very fun and thanks to all, including a guy named Jeff (hope I remembered right) who is the new Wanna manager. Rick, Bob, and JoAnn are running for office and today this was very fun. Below, and aside from my bean-pole friend Chas topping over 6-foot five, are the girls assembled in "power mode."



From the left, that's Nancy with her turtle proclamation and yes Turtle Week is coming up soon. World champion Sandy Feet is in pink next, and Ann is looking great. Next to Bean Pole Chas is Diane of slight build but an excellent yoga teacher and a jewelry maker like her husband standing there. Gosh I wish they let men watch them work out. And Stephanie on the far right is giving us a look that is just priceless. It's kind of like "hey you California chicks who think you're hip, don't mess with us." Naw, I made that up ... but that's a bunch of my favorites in that picture. Below, I took one more just wanting a field shot of the beach.




As you can see the volleyball freaks were at it pretty hard - or hardly playing - but everyone was having fun. Nice party and afternoon on the beach.

'Splain this, Kirk!

Before I got my master's degree I was an English major at UT-Austin took lots of classes or stuff like linguistics, technical writing, and rhetoric. So imagine my confusion and consternation today when I read a political advertisement by Kirk Mills, who is running for Mayor of our humble town of SPI. First he writes:

"I keep reading in the Mayor's advertisements that he has all the contacts in Austin and Washington D.C. - this a a shame because what it shows is a complete failure ..."

This ends with a horrible run-on sentence of horrible composition that completely lost me. Perhaps Kirk is jealous or something, but let's let it stand. The real zinger comes a few sentences later when says he has close ties with Dr. Tara Rios Ybarra, "our new State Representative," which he helped elect with lots of cash and political gamesmanship.

So let's see here, current Mayor Bob Pinkerton can work the lobbies and committees and agencies and that is bad, but putting money on an untested freshman state rep is good? People who know about logic, rhetoric, and debating know better. A direct & clear contradiction!

Sheesh, that's like saying you're against all drugs while smoking a big ole fat marijuana doobie. My purpose is not to slam the good man, but point out that that's some horrible writing. One wonders if 17 years of law practice in the Valley has improved his ability to communicate effectively.

You have to read a bunch into the advertisement to really understand what is going on, since without the clarity the motivation can only be suspect. Early on, Kirk presents a message for "a new generation" of leaders and a very Obama-like message of "your choice for change." This seems strange because while the Town Mayor doesn't please all people all the time, and surely has made a few enemies, he rarely ever votes except in a tie. What changes does he mean? Expanding the travel budget so that three or four people have to go to Austin or Washington on a juggernaut trip when only one or two are needed? I must confess you cannot learn that from the words written in the recent issue of the Island Breeze.

Kirk might well turn out to become a good mayor after a year or two and that is not my argument. My argument is all about really crappy writing. Thank goodness I can see the humor and satire in it ... not that I would ever compare myself to literary geniuses such as Mark Twain, Ambrose Bierce, H.L. Mencken, William Faulkner, or Earnest Hemingway.

Five Stinking Years

On May Day 2003 President Bush held a news conference on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to say that we had won the war in Iraq. Behind him was a poster flag claiming "Mission Accomplished."

You know all the gory details about how that didn't work, but let's just say May 1 is President Bush's least favorite day of the year. He simply can't put a positive media spin on it other than "stay the course."

If you want to know the truth, the entire event on May 1, 2003 was a staged affair. The aircraft carrier had to go out 40 miles to sea off Los Angeles because the handlers didn't want media shots of the LA mountains in the background. The "Mission Accomplished" banner is even more mysterious, not planted by the crew of the Abraham Lincoln ... or supposedly the White House. The latest spin is that the banner was meant for the aircraft carrier's crew, which I guess accomplished something by having a Presidential media release on their flight deck.

Ahem.

I used to love May Day even when there were bad stories about parading commies with armed rockets during the Cold War. But it was supposed to be a spring thing with may poles and fun. Now I feel ripped off.

Odds and Ends

Well the storm did come through here with maybe an inch and a half of needed rain, followed by a super bird fall-out that pleased hundreds. The wind then turned tail to the south and started blowing again, although a few stragglers like some warblers and grossbeaks are still around.

But the birds! A whole bunch of locals stopped by such as Scarlett Colley and Nancy Marsden, both having bazillion-dollar cameras and binoculars just like the pros, nearly a block party there for a while. I learned about 20 new species.

During the rain Lori noticed a wet spot on the floor and said "watch out, I think Malia [our dog] needed to pee." Nope, that was a leak in the roof. So handyman Sam went up on the ladders and with a bucket of black roofing goo and sure enough, a few seams in the felt paper were cracked. We have a slightly sloping flat-top in case you're wondering.

As I completed the job, noting that I didn't get a speck of sticky black goo on me anywhere, I saw the view which was spectacular. It made me feel good about being here. It was very calm and the water was almost an azure color.

Soon the water will warm up ... the cold front knocked is back down to 73 degrees which in my book is FREEZING. The only bummer with this approach, waiting for warm water, is that when it does reach the magic 77, the wind stops and the surfing isn't as good ... until a tropical storm comes by. But I don't care; no waves I'll fish.

Soon it will be Tiki Time on the island again, so we'll be preparing for that. Oh well, no rumors or politics, just some odds and ends from the island.

Sam the Weatherman

Well, it's usually "damn the weatherman" or "dammit, Sam" but as a geographer and amateur weather freak it is always of interest to me. For example, later this afternoon or evening we're expecting a major cold front to come through SPI, and while the radar looks innocent right now the gurus say to prepare for the big one.

I guess we'll have to see it if and when some rain happens, since we're technically in a severe drought right now. One to three inches of rain sounds great! The smart money seems to be on development of the tail of the front right over the coastal counties of Willacy and Cameron counties due to lift, moisture, and other dynamics. So we'll see.

I might believe it because yesterday there was an outflow boundary that came through in the morning, a day ahead of the actual front. That means that this storm has something technically known as "boogie."

However, us Islanders know better because sometimes these squall lines come through, nail the mainland, skip right over SPI, and then form a coastal trough offshore. Sea breeze storms do it the opposite in the summer, a huge rage out at sea, side-wind right around SPI, and pummel the mainland with massive thunderstorms.

Last year we were flooded about this time of year but this year the La Nina event pushed most of the rain up north. I heard that many Central Texas were full, with Travis only running a few feet below basin level (678 today out of 681 max, or three feet down from flood stage ... it used to be 20-40 feet down). So obviously we're missing some serious winter and spring rain.

So anyway, let's hope for a nice farmer's rain of about an inch, which I think is possible. It's fun and I blog with the big boys and girls on Jeff Master's Weather Underground site to learn some of their tricks. I also have been helping the folks on the outer islands of the Bahamas called the Abacos ... and so far they haven't complained TOO much. That's a tough area to call because of persistent Bahamian low pressure cells interacting the Gulf and Bermuda high pressure, which can result in screaming easterlies when Miami seems fair with mild winds.

Time to go check my PWAT and k-factor indexes ... see you later!

De Hotta De Flesh

This cheer thing is called an air conditioner, or at least the outside guts of one that is common in our area. They come in all sizes and prices but after about 7 years ... well let's just say if I poked it with a hoe handle it would probably explode, or simply fall into a pile of rust and corrosion. Probably the latter.

On the beach-side, they only last about 3 years, said my A/C dude. Remarkable, since up by Austin you'd expect ten years at minimum, and they didn't look rusty when they failed. I guess it's salty and corrosive down here, huh?

Now in case you're wondering about the title, that was how I heard the Marx Brothers in an old comedy movie say "hot flashes" in the Italian-American lingo of the time. It's pretty descriptive but sorry no porn here. And if you are lucky enough to have a wife with that condition, one of those "outside A/C things" is looking real good. I'll be under the covers some nights, ya know!

Another VW Story

Back when we grew up, the SUV that revolutionized Mommy Transportation was the VW bus, and our family had several fairly similar to this 1965 and a late 70's camper version. Everyone has a VW story, and in fact the old VW engines and vehicles are collector's items if not dependable transportation still today.

And boy do we have some memories. Please forgive me Father for what I am about to say.

* * *

Our family was six kids at the time, me the oldest about 13 at the time, down to the little baby of three. The twins were a boy and girl about the age of 5. The twins often rode in the way-back compartment above the engine, which they really liked for some reason. Hey if they were happy and not wailing, the world was happy.

But on one particularly long trip, and maybe a mile or two from the house, almost home, the twins declared that in no uncertain terms they needed to pee. There were some nervous laughs but a quick look back said they were dead serious.

Right as Dad motored from the stop light - the only one in about 15 miles - them twins got real quiet. Yup, both cut loose right over the hot, hot engine. A long, long time.

Steam billowed into the air both inside and outside the car. Now everyone was gasping for air, screaming and shouting. Stoically, Dad drove with white knuckles the last blocks to the house with his head out the window not even waving to the town cop or anybody ... who watched the promenade with amazement, their lips forming a big "O".

Great day for the birds

Today wasn't phenomenal by Island "fall-out" standards, but the bird drop today was quite satisfactory with many warblers, orioles, buntings, and such. Not as many Orchard Orioles as in the past but the light rain and cool north wind pushed them down pretty good for a while.

Unfortunately my camera isn't good at zooming distances for close-up shots so if anybody would like to share a picture, please email me at swells22@swbell.net.

I stopped feeding the red-wing blackbirds on Scarlet Colley’s advice, since those pigs were running off all the smaller birds. We threw some seed out by other huisache trees where the migrants were roosting. They seemed to like that. A good Friday even if cool and a bit rough for the beach or fishing.

Why I Play Blues

That's a picture of Clifford Antone courtesy of Wiki. I wrote this stuff earlier knowing that may readers really don't care for - or even hate - the blues. I think the right answer is 'it's about the only thing I know how to do!'. I mean while playing guitar. Anyway, here's what I wrote earlier:

##

Whew, I broke out the old ax – a 1972 ‘Grenada’ Spanish classical guitar – and soon found that my hands and coordination were way out of shape. Lori says it was some mean blues but I need to practice those hammers, rolls, slides, and sevenths more. If you can’t play the blues with feeling I just don’t know if it’s worth it.

I grew up in the finger picking days of Taj Mahal, Ry Cooder, Leon Redbone, Jorma Kaukonen (Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane), and Eric Clapton unplugged. It was more like ‘white boy blues’ than the real black heroes like John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, and Albert King (no offense to B.B.). Learning all their swag and grooves was really cool.

No, I don’t play commercially and I just jam out with friends of late at night when the sound carries. My singing sounds like geese farts on a hot muggy day (Leo Kottke reference) so I’ll just hum or whistle.

In the stairwell of a big building you don’t need an amp and one particular night I played against my own reverb. For four hours straight. Wow, it was like ‘Boogie Chillen’ all over again, that feeling that goes up your spine when things are good. It was one of my finer moments and I wish I had a recording, including the hoots from all the peeps on different floors.

Back when Stevie Ray Vaughn was younger I used to play some backyard parties up in Austin and show them rockers how to cut loose on a big one on just a rhythm guitar. They were somewhat baffled by my use of weird chords and couldn’t quite follow. Little Stevie (he hated being called that) finally took some lessons from a few greats courtesy of Clifford Antone and as we all know, Stevie Ray Vaughn went on to be the best rock/blues guitarist in his style. If you listen to Stevie in his later albums you can hear a distinct dissonant chord and a jazzy lick or two. And it rocked Carnegie Hall.

As to me, please never ask for a song. I’m a method player. I play the boogie until it plays itself out, however it sounds and whatever it is. I’m not very good but I like it … it is like catching a really good surfing wave sometimes. It's infectious.

The Cockpit

There's yours truly sitting at his new workstation supposedly "working." My son came into town and was pushing Tecate beer on me, as you can see. I think I had just successfully joined together a 100 megabyte database and was pretty happy about it, anyway.

The front door is still open except when it gets hot and Lori wants to cool the house down ... people call and can't believe all the squawking birds in the background. Those are Everett's red-wing blackbirds from Block Island and I've never seen them here so late in April. Must be all that global cooling you're having up yonder in the Northeast.

After tons of bad news things are looking up. The taxes are sent, a great punishment this year. Due to lack of funds we had to put off our trip to the Bahamas but those beautiful out islands will always be there. The kids are doing much better after some bad luck, and both have new jobs. Even my work is doing better, whew!

A few rare migratory birds came through such as the yellow warbler and indigo bunting, although not the loads of orchard orioles like last year.

A rarity was the first siting of a Kemp's Ridley sea turtle nest of over 100 eggs, all saved for incubation now, just in time for the Island's 35th birthday. The turtle was tagged as indicating its age was 35 years old too, a true coincidence. In fact, we're off to raise the sea turtle flag down by the visitors center.

Things are getting good now. I love this time of year before Memorial Day.

Bad Fence, Bad Fence!

At any given time there are hundreds of little wars and battles all over the world. You don’t hear of more than a few because of the media. Most people can only remember a few besides the big ones like Iraq and Afghanistan. Half of Africa seems to be at war of some kind. But the most curious one is right on our doorstep, our border with Mexico.

There is a real condition of war there and don’t let anybody say otherwise. Mexican army troops fill the border towns in a cat-and-mouse game with narco-terrorists and corruption. The US Department of Homeland Security has thousands of agents as well.

In addition, the US intends to build a border wall and occupy it as a demilitarized zone, like the border between North and South Korea. I guess everybody knows that but never heard it said that way. But can you imagine how people in Mexico feel, being treated like Palestinian or North Korean terrorists?

Even the phrase “de-militarized zone” has connotations of Vietnam as well. What a stupid term, DMZ, since you never have one unless you’re at war and killing people. From most accounts, we’re doing a pretty good job of killing people, although nobody is keeping a body count because it’s not a sexy war like our very generous stupidity in Iraq. If you include the hundreds of people shot by narcoticos, the wetbacks who didn’t make it past the checkpoint, the few killed by US agents, the coyote smugglers who let their people die, and all the related violence the numbers could be a thousand or more.

We the people and the Congress and states all said “yes we want border protection” and fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Now the Secretary of Homeland Security Chertoff is allowed to suspend all the laws of the land to militarize the border. It is a very sad situation with no endgame.

No Mo' Condos, Please

This time I’m going to come out and say I’m against any more condos on South Padre Island, plain and simple. Sure I know many will happen but I hate the new ones and hate the prospect of many more of them. Condos will be the ruination of the island and I’m dead set against any more being built.

It is time to call a spade a spade and say “no more condo-hotels.” The ones we have are just fine, but there comes a point where we just have too many people in a small part of a skinny sandbar. Sustainable communities have some high-density areas like downtown but we’ve taken it to a trashy extreme already here on the island, which as many as twenty more on the books in various stages of planning: all this for the benefit of a very few and a nice traffic jam on the peak days. It’s not sustainable and flies in the face of what is called “carrying capacity.”

There is plenty of land up north although for the foreseeable future all that traffic will be coming straight through town. This is nearing a recipe for disaster, should one ever occur. But beyond that there is the larger question of what all these people are going to do when they arrive on SPI. There’s only so much beach – indeed sometimes three rows of umbrellas deep – and bay access it at its lowest point since the island was first built up in the 70’s. There’s less beach as well because of high erosion rates. It seems more like the case that many transient people visit SPI on short stays, contribute to vehicle congestion, and then leave tons of trash behind.

Many resort areas are starting to become alarmed at the sheer numbers of people on their small islands, and have decided to place severe restrictions on multi-family housing. Some have sued to keep ferries and cruise ships from visiting their island or coastal community. Many tell of stories where the crowds grew rowdy and drunk and, lacking any public restrooms, urinated all over the place. It will be like spring break all summer if we keep going the way we are.

Not many people want to confess that condos are hurting the island and bad for the local economy. It is a very bold, unfavorable position, since a property owner in Texas should be able to build whatever they want to build – the reason why it’s such a complete and utter mess today. But I have the courage to come out and say no more condos. No, I’m not the first to say that, as the novelist John MacDonald said that back in 1971. To hell with any new condos, I say.

Save the end of the street!

Maybe it's time for me to get back into the thicket of politics after all. I want to save the end of the street. Plain and simple, that's what I intend to do.

Where's the end of the street that I meant? It's Texas Park Road 100 which is at the end of Highway 100 and then you take a left and go up Padre Boulevard, northward. At the very end there is a barricade and yes people drive right into it sometimes.

But at the end of the road is this incredible seascape to the east and on the bayside, some nice dunes as well. Tens of thousands of people go down there every year. You get out of the car and start walking. It's nice, and we call it the wild end of the island for a reason.

But it's all private land at the end of the road. The conservation land is a small distance to the north. So technically you're trespassing and one day there could be a giant condo there. No more magnificent bonfires, having some wine, watching the moon-rise, and singing some semi-dirty songs.

So we need to save the end of the road. I'm serious that we need the state, county, and town to pony up some money for access on both sides of the road and allow walking and bonfires and camping or whatever. Maybe the Conservancy or US Fish & Wildlife would allow a deed to allow limited access to beach and bay if the road was extended. I don't care how we do it: we need a nice end of the road.

There have been several instances of the town being involved in land flipping deals lately, like two street ends, considering buying a church (huh?), a wetland area for five bazillion dollars, and some worthless land donated so they didn't have to pay taxes on their swampland. All that is crazy, Mickey Mouse stupid stuff. Save the end of the road.

If we lose the end of the road we'll lose a major part of the town's soul, history, and vibe. Of course it's outside city limits but where ELSE are you going to drive on this island? I have been coming here for three decades and moved here because there was an end-of-the-road.

And I'll fight to keep it as a historical right of way.

Island's Birthday Coming Up

Starting on the 10th of April there will be the 35th anniversary since out little burgh was incorporated in 1973. You can catch a bunch of details here.

Friday is the big evening so come on down to Louie's for out favorite local band, the Bongo Dogs. And don't forget the Saturn Street Strummers (YouTube video) will make a cameo appearance as well! That's my favorite ukulele band and sometimes I play along with them. The theme is definitely "piratey" with a Hawaii influence so keep that in mind.

This is one of my favorite times of the year next to October. The water warms up, the birds migrate, the flowers bloom, and it's not crowded too bad between Easter and Memorial Day. It is a great time to get the "shoulder season" working a little bit - and thanks to the Town, the Historical Committee, and all the sponsors. Come on down; we're ready for ya!

Padre Under Siege

South Padre Under Siege
Melissa Hooey
March 31, 2008
Associated Press

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND. Late this evening the Queen Isabella Causeway was shut down and helicopters circled overhead looking for a band of narco-terrorists that had landed boats and a submarine to the north of South Padre Island. Some gunfire was heard although there are no official reports at this time.

On authority who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to talk to the media said "it looks like a submarine, which was small and home-built, had a mechanical failure and the go-fast drug boats came along to off-load the goods. They ended up on the beach."

So far we are unable to substantiate the rumor that a large shrimp boat also ran up on the beach in the same area with 30 to 60 heavily armed men who had held a county parks ranger and two visiting campers as ransom. Park Road 100, which runs up the Island in that direction, is currently closed at Andy Bowie Park. It seems to some locals that some terrorists had taken over the north part of South Padre Island, and it would be daylight before more could be learned about this tragic event.

TSA and The Nipple Ring

If you thought that flying on airplanes was getting ridiculous with all the insanity over TSA airport security, here's a story about a woman who was forced to remove her nipple ring, even requiring a pair of pliers to do the job. I think our country just sunk to a new low.

Let me get this right ... terrorists have exploding nipple rings?

The next President sure has a bunch of work to do. Add this one to the list.

Smoke on the Water

I was going to write about real scientific stuff but had to make it interesting, like the lyrics to the famous Deep Purple song. Really, I thought the only words were "Smoke on the water ... fire in the sky." Quite complicated.

So instead of talking about your marine aerosol boundary layer, which sounds like you're kinda perverted, check your windshield in the morning. Ah, the remnants of a night's worth of particulate deposition. On those dewy nights you'll see more because the dew forms on the particles and gets heavy and falls ... onto your windshield where it will dry for your maximum viewing pleasure.

First I want to say that we're blessed with really clean air here on SPI, not like the hell-hole of Houston or even the slightly tainted monitoring done in Brownsville. The picture I got courtesy of the TCEQ is the Brownsville air monitoring station somewhere in ... Brownsville.

But when the wind blows you get sand and salt pretty big time. And when the plants are in bloom you notice if you're allergic, right? And if the red tide comes in you know about it if you get get close to the beach. It's all aerosol, particulate, or as us redneck hippies say, "crud."

Red tide is actually interesting because it is unlike the typical sea salt or blowing sand with silica, as it is a bio-aerosol. Yep, little droplets of a neurotoxin from dying dinoflagellates that cause you to cough and sneeze. It's full of water and is so heavy it falls to the ground within a few hundred feet of the beach - unless it's blowing really hard. Remember September of 2005?

Here's where I get to sound like that famous column, 'Walt's Salt.' There are all kinds of particulate such as Saharan, Mexico crop burning smoke, the trade winds, galactic dust, and my favorite, bugs. I said bugs because researchers found that the first form of life found after Mount St. Helens blew its top, rendering everything sterile and buried, spiders and little bugs started dropping out of the sky in HUGE numbers. Microscopic bugs and little blown up pieces of them too.

It's so dry this year I don't think your windshield will turn a nice shade of golden-green with all the pollen this spring - at least I could use the break. White/brown is more like it.

Is SPI a Good Investment?

Hunkered down on a huge Spring Break / Semana Santa weekend, I ponder the common wisdom of whether SPI is a good investment. So often we hear that the Island is cheap as compared to other coastal resort areas, or places like Florida and California. Just so you know, we - Lori and I - didn't move here to turn a profit and can weather most economic storms. But I find that a lot of the SPI cheer-leading about real estate is pretty much untrue.

The data, however, is all over the board and I think a lot of what we hear is simply perception and not fact. It is true however that SPI remains a safe haven because of stable prices based on median numbers ($302K all household units and $369 new) and price per square foot (about $75 plus land and frills). And, it it true that the same numbers in California are way higher with San Diego at $425K median price and over $150 per square foot. Florida is way lower on all accounts so I would tend to discount the Florida market as being more expensive - but remember, median prices hide a lot of detailed nuances and aren't really meaningful.

The one statistic that grabbed my attention was appreciation, however. While Texas averages 5.2% appreciation from 4Q 2006-2007, with SPI much lower at about 0.6%, California and Florida areas and zip codes are off -5%, meaning a loss in value. In fact, some experts see more like 10-15% negative appreciation and if the bubble continues, those rates could hit -30%. Folks, we're talking about land worth one-third less that what they were in 2006. And that's NOT happening here, knock on wood.

So then I wondered why on Earth people aren't moving here to SPI, since we're doing rather well even in a bubble economy. The answer is twofold: the foreclosure rate and the ability to sell off before buying here. Don't look at foreclosures for Cameron County and the Harlingen-Brownsville MSA because they are high - indeed many zip codes here are blacklisted as being sub-prime with 3% or less down payment, and significant foreclosure rates. But for Florida and California these levels are extremely high, reaching in some cases to 5% foreclosures on "good" property. So people owning in these areas can't sell and if they walk away from their investment, can't buy. So, no mass immigration from Florida and California.

I also looked into second home buyers and ownership, although I'll have to follow this up
with some more at least rudimentary research. I'd hypothesize that there really are two distinct markets aside from the investors: those who want a winter dwelling and the average person who wants a summer dwelling. From anecdotal information, many of the so-called "Winter Texans" are selling off because of high taxes and other reasons such as health. The strength of the local real estate economy seems to be with the summer crowd who targets economical condos.

Finally there are the houses. Despite low cost per foot to build, the land is outrageously priced and few are touching it, with only a few sales since January, 2006. I have no idea why land with nothing but maybe a sliver of a view of the water is worth $250K. But it is fun to tell people that my land is worth more than my land is with a house on it! So far, the appraisers haven't bought my story though. Sigh.

The Backing of the Wind

Ah, today the cool front blew itself out and the wind backed towards the east, little by little, degree by degree. In a day or so it will go back to the southeast. The slight change in wind direction is noticeable, and feels warmer already.

We has expected some birds to fall out but nothing I can report. I even talked with a person who looked professional about it - judging by the thousands of dollars of optical bling hanging around his neck - but he said nothing seemed to be here on Oleander. Just hundreds of redwing blackbirds and common sparrows with a few grackles. In short, nothing but pests!

Yesterday's huge brush fire up the Valley sure brought in a bunch of smoke but it definitely cleared out today, so maybe they have the upper hand on it. It was quite large, about 25,000 acres.

Big happenings in the sky as the Vernal Equinox is Thursday. There's a full moon on Friday. Of course Sunday is Easter, also the day when many leave to go home after Spring Break. All these pagan celebrations so close together - 2008 is truly an usual year.

A Community of Art

Here's a wall mural from Ocean Springs, Mississippi. For a funky village by the Gulf, it is probably the art capitol of the Gulf seashores.

I wish we had more art here on South Padre Island. Sure, we have some sand sculptors like the Sons of the Beach, artists like Sharon Campbell, the Camp Craft Girls, and the Whaling Wall but we're not a pimple compared to funky little Ocean Springs, home of over 100 full-time artists.

And people come from all over the world just to see the art - not the beaches, fishing, or booze barns that may be there, but the art. My brother lives there now and loves it, like real potters and foundries you can watch them work. Art-in-action includes glass blowers, wood workers, and blacksmiths as well.

The reason I write this is because many powerful folks down here on SPI don't like wall murals, art, or any of that baggage. "We need to promote boomers and zoomers" they say. Such poor wayward individuals, if you had great art you'd have more of those zoomy kind of people, whatever you call them.

I think its a major mistake to not promote art on SPI. But nooooooo, public art is bad, murals are worse, and if you got some art please keep it to yourself or do like seagulls on the beach or something harmless. I swear, even Port Isabel has public art and they're certainly no connoisseurs (kudos to the great art shops and no offense, Isabellians!).

Maybe someday we'll see the light.

What Pirates Wore

Here's a fairly good depiction of a common sailor in "southwest" gear for cold and rainy conditions. Notice the bell bottom jeans and bare feet. Most of the clothes were made from canvas or "duck" similar to bluejeans of today, although much looser. The colors were white, blue, and whatever a pirate could raid. Simple tube shirts were worn over the duck pants, not too different from a T-shirt. The gray-black "southwest" style was just sail canvas treated with tar on the outside. In short, a typical pirate and sailor looked exactly like a hippie in bell-bottom jeans.

There is a vast misconception that pirates wore clothes like Johnny Depp all the time. The Captain might get dressed up for a battle or to go on shore but otherwise he looked just like the rest of the crew. This is because those special garments were expensive and when on deck, grease would splatter down onto the deck, fouling anything you wore. The ropes and pulleys (called blocks) were all lubricated with a mixture of pitch tar and lard, which is why clothing was simple and why they cleaned the decks first thing on any sailing ship.

Hairstyles were mostly braided until the early 1800's, often dipped in tar as well. I have no idea where those romantic picture of pirates with flowing manes of hair come from, other than perhaps vanity - and a few more Johnny Depp movies. But the part about beaded braids is fairly authentic.

On Sunday, "make and mend day," everyone would clean and sew clothes and fix their hair braids, often with colorful threads if the sailmaker had any. Experienced sailors would teach the younger lads how to make as much clothes out of their allotment of canvas, often adding very detailed piping (folds of material). Tobacco pipes were cleaned and repaired - most sailors were horribly addicted to tobacco and at least a gallon of beer-like grog a day as well. From reading many history books and historical novels, I got the opinion that Sundays you'd get a little cleaned up, get a buzz, play some music, catch some fish, wrestled, told big lies called "yarns," and gambled.

When it came time to "prepare for battle stations" the ships bell and drummer boy would toil. The crew would go put on their worst clothes. And of course the Captain, Quartermaster, and at least one Mate would get "pimped up" for the show. The typical pirate ship had a complement of about 40 to 200 men (and sometimes some lady pirates in men's clothes), but only a half dozen would get pimped out at most. You know, like how Johnny Depp dressed up for his movies.

One thing I learned about the colonial and pirate ship crews was that they detested the rules of the British Navy, which did try to require standard uniforms for their crews - as many were AWOL from the British Navy and if found could be seized or even hung from the yardarm. For Sundays and "go-ashore" days, straw hats with ribbons and color-coordinated tops over pure white duck trousers seemed to be routine. Part of the tradition for special coordinated clothing was so the Quartermaster could identify his drunk crew in the flop-houses and gin-joints, and drag them back to the ship.

I just thought that as we get closer to our Town Anniversary and Pirate Days that I'd throw in my two cents about what pirates would wear.

Sand Dollars - Where'd They Go?

file photo: Texas Parks & Wildlife

For this subject I think I need some help from the local visitors and naturalists. Basically, back a few decades ago we used to find sand dollars - not in great numbers and many were half-fragments, but at least some. We haven't seen a single one lately. As the young kids say these days, "wazzup with that?"

Apparently there are some left, and Gene Gore reported some last year in the sandbars near the jetties when diving. However our state fish and game agency, TPWD, claims that there should be large groupings of them near the second, third, and fourth sandbars up and down the beach.

Maybe the tourists that wake up for 6:00 walks on the beach get them all. But I don't see any conch (not the Queen, a Texas conch like a giant welk) or the official shell of Texas, the Lightning Welk - maybe some spiral pieces is all. But to us the 5-notched sand dollar was always the ultimate prize.

Anybody have some ideas? If you search for sand dollars on the Internet you mainly get resorts of that name, including a wayward ski resort in Maine (huh?). The real thing seems scarce as chicken's teeth these days. See you on the beach and good luck finding those treasures!

Update: I checked with some more links that said erosion and pollution would be causing a decline in numbers of sand dollars. Scarlett Colley (a local expert on such matters) says that some divers and pickers had gotten them many years ago, and she only has some old ones (called tests, their skeletons) for her nature exhibit - she has no live ones.

A BOA Constrictor?

As of this morning only a few people had filed for the SPI Board of Aldermen, even so there was an uncontested seat. I had some work and the gals went off to lunch. When they came back they were cackling like geese because they convinced Sandy Feet to run for Alderman. She thought she was opposing Mary Phillips on the uncontested place 4.

With Sandy Feet running, things heated up and Phillip re-filed his application back to place 4 and Mary running against JoAnn Evans. Gosh I love this town.

Word on the street is that Rick Ridolfi also filed for place 4 and Bob Pinkerton is going to run for Mayor against Kirk Mills. Last I checked, Bob had been considering not running this time. We're talking more viewing potential than the Clinton Obama primaries.

All it took was going to lunch!

I guess it's Spring Break

Ah yes, Spring Break is in the air, not that I've seen much of it. They seem to mostly be down by the entertainment district anyway. Texas Week starts today and runs for about ten days before falling back to a dull roar.

Somehow it doesn't seem as strong as previous years but you never know. The blogs and forums certainly aren't buzzing like they used to. Come to think of it, only one airplane with a banner has been buzzing.

Fortunately Lori gets off for a week, on account they don't like to send buses over the causeway with all the traffic. So stop by our house by the bay, which is a fairly safe haven except for when the kids walk down the road expecting to see a big beach ... I always help them out by pointing the other way and laughing.

Spring Day on the Bay

My poop-machine (Malia the dog) and I went down to the street end, since it such a beautiful day. Yesterday's rage with big waves and brown water had cleaned up very well. In fact the water was crystal clear. I did notice a few things, such as no hermit crabs, which used to number in the hundreds several years ago. Then Malia had to investigate the ... ugh ... smellier side of life. And boy did we strike pay dirt! Here's a shot of our town storm sewer obviously making joyous amounts of blue-green algae. I wonder if that is supposed to be normal, as I hadn't seen that down here.



A wider shot shows that the algae is not just from the storm sewer outfall but is general along the bayside. There also is a curious foam line as well - it was much more impressive at dead low tide (no camera then). Such algae growth is usually associated with fertilizers, wastewater, and stuff like that. However, during spring warming some rotting and bacterial decomposition can be expected.

I washed the dog when we got back. Ever noticed that when the shake they can nail ya really good?

Island Jackass Update

Ah, politics, that time of year again, I thought I smelled something slightly dootie in the air other than the usual allergies. The rumor mill is chock full of goodies like Mayor Bob Pinkerton might not run, Kirk Mills want the job, and Doyle Wells is ready to blow all them away somehow. The farm smells are a little strong these days, huh?

Nothing about a couple of other places like two BOA chairs being up for sale, seems weird nobody has declared yet. Most of the heavy panting is over on the mainland for Cameron County DA and a district (county) judge. Some minor sweats about District 43 House of Representatives for Tara Ybarra-Rios. I have no idea how these off-island races are going.

But correct me if I'm wrong, we have a Mayor and two BOA seats up for grabs in May. Us Islanders really could care less if the Clinton girl or Obama gets the national party nod ... we're thinking they're both half smart so why not make them run together? None of them high-level pols are going to fix SPI anyway. Bring on some of those big ole parties at Sea Ranch and Louie's and I'll see if I vote for ya!